Recent content by Flexo

So particles being rigid is only permissible in SR because they have zero size?

GRB, are fundamental particles not completely rigid? If they aren't, how so? Neh, entanglement cannot be used to transfer information. Say Alice and Bob share a pair of entangled photons. If Alice makes a measurement on her photon, that means that Bob will always find a certain thing when he...

Using the not entirely spherical earth, would you actually stretch out a little bit towards the equator, or is it such that as long as any vector has an equal and opposite one, nothing will occur?

You would not come to a complete stop in a vacuum. In a more real scenario, with air, that is roughly correct. Bah, I was wrong about the tearing.

It seems to me that no contraction is occurring in this scenario, because the observer seeing the train as going faster would observe less time between number n crossing line n.

You are talking about a sort of giant hole through the entire earth, right? You would, depending on how tightly packed together you are, fall completely to the other side(negating air resistance) and back again forever, or you would be ripped apart on your way down. The second is more likely...

In your scenario, if I understand it right, Alice will also agree that the light reaches each detector simultaneously. I know this is not what you are trying to express, though. You need to understand that to a stationary observer, the light needs to travel different distances to reach each part...

It seems strange that observers will agree on a time that any point on the train reaches the line. Say the train has numbers from 1-1000 in large print on either side of it. Each of these numbers is placed such that it reaches the finish line 1 nanosecond after the last. Both observers set...

You are making this much more complex than it needs to be. Please state whether or not you believe simultaneity is not agreed upon. If you say that is it not, what problem do you have with it?

It seems to me that the two moving observers would set their watches to zero at different times if the train contracted from both directions. Is this just a problem with my visualization?

This implies that there are two different space-time realities. Think of this in terms of the above analogy, and I think you'll figure it out.

To use an analogy I found simple, think of a very long loaf of bread that represents space-time. Consider every moment in time to be a "slice" of the loaf. For the observer on the train, he will say that both Bobs died on the same "slice." The observer not on the train, however, has slices that...

Consider a train traveling at a relativistic velocity, with three observers. One inside the train, and two outside the train traveling at different velocities with respect to it. Say there is a finish line of sorts at a certain point. All observers will agree when the train reaches the line...

I believe the states of matter are defined by some deduction of the fact that a substance, when changing states, maintains a constant temperature. Or/also, it might have to do with chemical bonds between the constituent atoms.

Consider what a stick is made of. Several atoms pushing and pulling against each other. When person B let's go, A does NOT observe it instantly. Rather, he observes it in the time it takes for the "information" to travel across all of the atoms. While this might seem instantaneous, it actually...